Hardware Guide 19:Wii Controller

Here is the real revolution -- changing the way people play games. If you have seen how awkwardly the controller is held, you would hava a clearer image of what I am driving at. Oh, well, never mind. Just take a look at the picture below and you will understand. Now, you will really feel as if you are that soldier in the game, although I must admit that you will be quite exhausted after some time.

"Creative, innovative, impressive" are words that I will use to describe the Wii controller. The remote-like controller has given way to many new ideas regarding on how games can be played. You can use the controller as a sword (think sword-fighting in Star Wars games), a bow, a rifle (as illustrated above), a tennis racket, and there are many other endless possibilities. Yeah, I know that Nintendo will try to market some of its older games via the Wii's online service (known as Wii24Connect), so you must be wondering:How will those older games utilize the Wii controller? The answer is no. Instead, Nintendo has introduced a new classic Wii controller (see picture below), which fortunately, presents a better image than the old GameCube controller.

Okay, back to the point. As I was saying, I think that the Wii controller is amazing. And there are further evidences to support my view. According to sources obtained from IGN (read IGN's report here), the controller will communicate with the Wii console via Bluetooth technology on a 2.4Ghz band and for the console to interact with the controller, a sensor must be placed near the controller (see image below).

It is also known that the controller will have an internal speaker, coupled with 6KB of memory. The controller will also feature LEDs, which will indicate battery life (2 AA batteries are needed to operate the controller for 30 hours). A rumble motor, which can be turned on and off, is built in too. Okay, so it seems like a good deal. Both the remote-like Wii controller and the classic one will be finished in an elegant white (also looking glossy to me, although I don't really know), making the controllers look more like Apple products. Check back for more updates on the Wii controller.